Mayor Chris Beutler today presented the Mayor’s Award of Excellence for January to a team from the Public Works and
Utilities Department – Jay Edmiston and Leroy Rosenthal. The monthly award recognizes City employees who consistently
provide exemplary service and work that demonstrates personal commitment to the City. The award was presented at the
beginning of today’s City Council meeting.

Edmiston and Rosenthal are Inspectors in the Street Maintenance Operations Division, and both have worked for the
City since the early 1970s. Supervisor Roger Tiedeman nominated them in the category of productivity for their work
to create new training materials for snow removal. The team created two presentations – one for those with Commercial
Drivers Licenses and one for those without CDLs. They did all the writing, producing and photography, and the Citizen
Information Center helped with production. The result was a package of CDs, DVDs and Power Point presentations that
will help to simplify and standardize snow removal training. Edmiston and Rosenthal will be in charge of presenting
the information in a classroom setting before the hands-on training with the equipment.

In his nomination, Tiedeman wrote, “I believe their efforts will save time and money. Also, their positive
attitude toward our snow removal program is bound to be noticed in a classroom setting to serve as an example for
others to follow.”

The other categories in which employees can be nominated are customer relations, loss prevention, safety and valor.
Consideration also may be given to nominations that demonstrate self-initiated accomplishments or those completed
outside of the nominee’s job description. All City employees are eligible for the Mayor’s Award of Excellence except
for elected and appointed officials. Individuals or teams can be nominated by supervisors, peers, subordinates and
the general public. Nomination forms are available on the City Web site at
lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: personnel) or
from department heads, employee bulletin boards or the Personnel Department, which oversees the awards program.

All nominations are reviewed by the Mayor’s Award of Excellence Committee, which includes a representative with
each union and a non-union representative appointed by the Mayor. Award winners receive a $100 U.S. savings bond, a
day off with pay and a plaque. Monthly winners are eligible to receive the annual award, which comes with a $500 U.S.
savings bond, two days off with pay and a plaque.